Detroit postal workers picket asking for postmaster general to 'get out of the way'

DETROIT (FOX 2) - Postal workers picketing in front of the main post office in Detroit on Tuesday afternoon.

"All we want is for the postmaster general to get out of the way and let us deliver the mail," said Roscoe Woods, president Local 480, American Postal Workers Union.

Postmaster General Louis DeJoy has been taking a beating on Capitol Hill from Democrats who say changes he tried to implement would have interfered with the 2020 presidential election.

"He started taking out machines that were in use," Woods said. "For him to sit in front of Congress and say these machines were just sitting there, that is flatly not true."

"It's a scary time for postal workers, we don't really know how to take these changes - it's something we have never seen before," said Keith Combs, president Local 295 American Postal Workers Union.

A record number of Americans are expected to vote via absentee ballot this year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"You send your ballot on time and it isn't postmarked, it's not there on time, it doesn't get counted that's a huge issue for people," said State Sen. Adam Hollier (2nd District).

Despite concerns, Republicans say Democrats are creating a false narrative about post office executives trying to interfere in the election.

"This is not a Republican issue, it's not a Democrat issue, this is an American issue," said Woods. "We've been around for 240 years, get out of our way and let us do it."

And in the meantime: "The Union, the employees were all gonna stay on top of this and that's why we're here today, we're not going away."